Baa! Baa! (1885)

AUTHOR: Alcott, Louisa May
PUBLICATION: Lulu's Library, Vol. 1. Boston: Roberts Brothers, 1890 [1885]. 242-269.
https://archive.org/details/luluslibrary00alcogoog/page/n248/mode/1up
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/40682/40682-h/40682-h.html#baa-baa

While Alcott does not explicitly advocate for a veg*n diet or lifestyle, in her stories and especially those for children, she emphasizes healthy eating, which for her is predominantly vegetarian. Thus, her advocacy remains implicit. She consistently addresses the issue of animal welfare, as in this story, which engages the suffering of animals transported to slaughter under cruel conditions. This issue gained increasing traction among animal welfare activists in the latter part of the nineteenth century.

KEYWORDS: animals, animal welfare, moral education, reform, activism

The story tells how “two shabby little girls” (242) care for sheep that are crammed into a cattle-train and are in dismal condition, in particular lacking access to water. Both the girls and the narrator identify the cries of the thirsty sheep as pitiful and appealing directly to their conscience. "'I'm so mad about these poor things, I ain't afraid of anybody,' cried Tilda, with a last refreshing splash among the few favored sheep, as she caught up the tray and marched off to the platform,--a very hot, wet, shabby little girl, but with a breast full of the just indignation and tender pity that go to redress half the wrongs of this great world" (247-248). The actions of the girls, as they attempt to relieve the suffering of these particular sheep, expose the gender dynamics that inhibit their efforts to force change: "That's the wickedest thing that ever was; and I just wish I was a man, so I could see about it. I 'd put all the railroad folks in those cars, and keep 'em there hours and hours and hours, going by ponds all the time; and I 'd have ice-cream, too, where they could n't get a bit, and lots of fans, and other folks all cool and comfortable, never caring how hot and tired and thirsty they were. Yes, I would! and then we'd see how they like it" (249). The girls work by selling berries to travellers passing through the railroad station, and from this point in the narrative they bring water for the sheep as well. In contrast to the adults in their lives, the grils do not neglect the animals. "Every one else forgot them. Mr. Benson was a busy old gentleman far away in the city; Miss Alice was driving, boating, and picnicking all day long; and the men at the depot had no orders to care for the poor beasts. But Tilda and Patty never forgot; and, rain or shine, they were there when the long train came in, waiting to do what they could, with dripping pails, handfuls of grass, or green branches, to refresh these suffering travellers for whom no thought was taken" (256).

However, the example of the girls creates reverberations throughout the community. Adults, jolted into awareness by the children's activism, begin to take steps themselves. "'I'll speak to papa about it this very day. It will be a good time; for Mr. Jacobs, the president of the road, is coming up to spend Sunday, and they must do something for the poor beasts,' said Miss Alice, ashamed to be outdone by two little girls." The girls themselves determine to appeal not only to sentiment but also to the law promoted in Our Dumb Animals, a prominent animal rights periodical published by the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. They explain: "'We read a piece in a paper our teacher lends us, and I brought it down to show Mr. Weed, the depot man. He said it was a shame, but nobody could help it; so we thought we 'd tell him about the law we found.' And Patty eagerly drew a worn copy of 'Our Dumb Animals' from her pocket to show the little paragraph to this all-powerful friend who knew the railroad king" (258).

The narrative ends with the "gentlemen" hearing the girls' story and reading "the bit in the paper" and determining to act, remarking "That's one good child. Come and see the other, and you will agree with me that something ought to be done to relieve their kind little hearts and arms, if not out of mercy to the animals, who can't be called dumb in this case, though we have been deaf too long" (259-260). Similarly, Alice responds more to the girls than to the plight of the suffering sheep, stating: "'Well, I 've learned a little lesson, and I'll lay it to heart so well I won't let either of you forget,' added Alice, as they drove away; while Tilda and Patty trudged home, quite unconscious that they had set an example which their elders were not ashamed to follow" (265). Moving beyond the limited perspective of the characters, the narrator comments on the ease with which reform can be achieved when there is willingness to make change happen:

But, best and most wonderful of all, the old gentlemen did not forget the sheep. It was astonishing how quickly and easily it was all done, when once those who had the power found both the will and the way. Every one was interested now: the stage-drivers joked no more; the brakemen lent a hand with the buckets while waiting for better means of relief; and cross Mr. Weed patted Tilda and Patty on the head, and pointed them out to strangers as the "nice little girls who stirred up the railroad folks." Children from the hotel came to look at them, and Elviry Morris was filled with regret that she had no share in this interesting affair.
    Thus the little pail of water they offered for pity's sake kept the memory of this much-needed mercy green till the lake poured its full tide along the channel made for it, and there was no more suffering on that road. (266)

 

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